Multi-texture dream jams await Madison in the Majestic Theatre. If swimming in some sweet shoegaze sounds like your morning hot shower, then by all means please diiv in with DIIV, No Joy, & Sunflower Bean on Tuesday October 13th.
DIIV was conceived in Brooklyn New York in 2011. After collaboration with bands Soft Black, Darwin Deez and Beach Fossils, the band's frontman Zach Cole Smith decided it was time to invest in his own project. Together with Andrew Baily, Devin Ruben, and Colby Hewitt, Smith released DIIV's debut album Oshin in 2012.
The album, as the title suggests, ebbs and flows. Each song a tidal wave, rocking us with rhythmic guitar riffs and sweeping us with echoed, washed vocals. One cannot help but feel simply weightless and cleansed while listening to Oshin. DIIV's guitars sway, but are lightly anchored by base – a combination that sounds effortless to our ears and creates a welcoming sensation of space. If caught in this momentum, this tidal wave, a listener is likely to get the urge to run, lungs overflowing with air, toward an unknown distance.
For this reason, DIIV sounds best will while cruising along the Pacific Coast Highway or perpetual forests of northern Minnesota. Without over dominating vocals, DIIV provides you the space to breathe and think. While listening, I often find myself feeling lost among the song's waves and within context of my surroundings. It is quite dreamy.
If you appreciate the sounds of Beach Fossils, Wilding Nothing, & Lower Dens, then DIIV's concert will likely resonate with similar vibes. DIIV will also be accompanied by shoegaze bands, Sunflower Bean (Manhattan) and No Joy (Montreal). Both released new albums in the past year.
Although this will be my 3rd time seeing DIIV, I am still extremely apprehensive. With a prospective album to be released sometime this month, Is The Are The, DIIV is surely to entice and carry their audience with new tidal waves. For a taste, you can listen to “Dopamine”, the albums first released single.
DIIV embodies a unique “COOL” that can be compared to worn, tattered t-shirts and old baseball caps that end up complimenting messy hairdos. Wear these and you display utter comfort in your own skin. The same is applied to DIIV. They know their sound, messy hairdos and all, and no one could tell them otherwise.
Check out my favorite DIIV jam, from Oshin: “Doused”
